144 Esidimeni patients suffered cruel and unnatural deaths because no one in the Gauteng government was heeding the warnings that a tragedy of epic proportions was unfolding.
The individual tasked with oversight in our province, Premier Makhura, refused to hear and refused to see, even when presented with overwhelming evidence of the human disaster that was occurring. Perhaps because it was inconvenient, perhaps because it was easier to leave the difficult decisions to others.
On the 15th of May 2018, the DA will table its motion of no confidence against Premier David Makhura in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. It cannot be business as usual for the Premier who is ultimately responsible for a gross miscarriage of leadership by his provincial government.
It took the relentless digging, and probing, by DA Gauteng shadow minister of Health, Jack Bloom, to uncover the extent of the atrocities being committed against the 1562 Life Esidimeni patients; to ask the uncomfortable questions in the House while being ridiculed by members of the ANC. To fight for the right of every family member to know what happened to their loved one while in the care of the Gauteng Health Department.
What the Premier did do, was outsource the care of the most vulnerable in society, to unlicensed NGOs which, in his own admission, was, and is, a primary responsibility of the state. He said he was ‘unaware’ that patients would be sent to NGOs as he ‘thought’ that there were enough beds for them in state hospitals.
The fact is, the Premier simply didn’t care enough to establish the facts.
The Premier’s core mandate is to ensure that, under his watch, services are delivered that enhance the wellbeing of all the provinces’ residents, including the mentally ill. And he failed. As the custodian of Gauteng’s 14.3 million residents, avoidable deaths on this scale, is reason enough for Premier Makhura to vacate his position.
Is this the type of leader that Gauteng deserves? The DA believes that every one of the 144 patients that died, deserves better.
Gauteng deserves better.
The ethical and moral accountability for 144 deaths, and the suffering of thousands more, lies squarely with Premier David Makhura.
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